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Speaking of treason, check out this blog I was just reading:

We first noted a glitch in John Kerry's service records some time back (last February) and now Tom MacGuire says there was no gap.

We know the press loves to pore over Drill records in minute detail, so we'll eagerly await the release of full details of Kerry's duty status at the time he was meeting with representatives of the government of North Vietnam.

Oh - and certainly they'll make sure he had no missed Drill periods, right? Even when he was in France?

I mean, AWOL is the real big deal right?

More here.

Update: This indicates that Kerry was a member of the Navy Reserves from January 70 to July 72, when he tranferred to inactive reserve status.

Where are the Drill records? I'm sure they are available.

Now, I'd like to ask Smash about this, but he's not blogging because he's doing his annual reserve training - that two-week-a-year thing that Navy Reservists do even if they were in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Anyone else out there?

Update 2: Commenter Bill points out the famous 1986 'update' to Kerry's records tells a different story - the word "inactive" has been appended to the Navy Reserve status (eyes glazing over...). That explains everything. Must just be a case of sloppy record keeping. Who'd have thought?

So recap: Accordng to the '86 record, Kerry was Reserve (inactive) while meeting the North Vietnamese delegation and testifying against his comrades, then later became an inactive Standby Reservist. Got it? Good.

Update 3: US Navy Vietnam veteran (non-combat, he points out) John Moore, proprietor of the blog Useful Fools, offers additional insight in the comments:

I blogged about this last spring when the 1970-1972 gap disappeared when he released some of his service records.
When I left active duty, I was assigned to Naval Air Reserve (Active status). I don't know how he got the inactive status. Later, after a day with 3 aircraft fires (2 in flight), I decided I wanted to continue consuming oxygen, so I went to personnel and changed to what I guess was Regular Reserve ( Inactive Status ). A year later, I got a registered letter ordering me back to active status, but when they found out I was a Vietnam Veteran, they cancelled the orders.
In any case, a reservist is only subject to UCMJ while on reserve training (and a few uninteresting special cases).
So Kerry's meeting with the enemy was just part of ordinary treason (punishable by death) rather than military treason (punishable by death).

Update 4: This document from the Kerry collection provides useful insight. It spells out very carefully the responsibilities the young future Senator had as an inactive Reservist, and clarifies the distinction between the two categories of service (Ready Reserve - Inactive and Standby Reserve - Inactive):

1. "Legislation enacted by Congress has stressed the importance of ensuring that members of the Ready Reserve will be available immediately for active service in the event of war or national emergency. You should appreciate that such a concept is a prerequisite to an expeditious and effective mobilization if the need arises.
<...>
3. "Members of the Ready Reserve may be ordered to active duty in the event of war or national emergency proclaimed by the President. Members of the Standby Reserve - Inactive may be ordered to active duty only in the event of war or national emergency declared by Congress."

Clearly Senator Kerry is quite proud of his service as an Inactive Reservist - he's posted these documents on his web site, after all, and numerous biographical pieces include the information. And apparently he understood the responsibilities.

And as a Senator for two decades he could certainly have changed the program, or at least tried, if he had any fault with it.

All of which leads to the question: why is he so opposed to an actual execution of the option, having repeatedly referred to it as a "backdoor draft"?

"And we must end the stop-loss and involuntary recall of troops that amounts to nothing more than a back-door draft." He most recently told the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

It must be one of those "subtle nuances" that most of us are too stupid to understand.

[SNIP]

In May of 1986 Kerry asked for a history of his service

http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/jkmilservice/Request_For_History_of_Service.pdf

which shows the 1970 to 1972 period as as being in the Naval Reserve (inactive) and the period from 1972 to 1978 as being in the Standby Reserve (inactive).Posted by: Bill at August 21, 2004 09:32 PM

If I'm not mistaken, Kerry was subject to the Uniform Code of Military (UCMJ) until his Navy Reserve obligation ended in 1978.

Specifically, he would have been under UCMJ jurisdiction during any inactive-duty training period to include weekend drills and 2-week Annual Training.

If he missed a drill without permission then he most certainly would have been subject to ARTICLE 86 - Absence Without Leave.

And if he was doing his anti-war stuff during any of the inactive-duty training periods, he very possibly would have been subject to:

ARTICLE 88 - Contempt Toward Officials
ARTICLE 92 - Failure To Obey Order or Regulation
ARTICLE 104 - Aiding The Enemy
ARTICLE 107 - False Statements
ARTICLE 117 - Provoking Speeches or Gestures
ARTICLE 133 - Conduct Unbecoming Of An Officer And A Gentleman

A couple of these articles make AWOL minor in comparison. For example, someone found guilty under ARTICLE 104 can be put to death.

Pretty grave is that thing called the UCMJ.